I Asked ChatGPT to List Every Social Platform So I Didn’t Have To
There’s a Social Media App for That (Apparently)
We’re all on social media (to some extent at least) but did you know the landscape goes way beyond Facebook, Instagram and (the artist formerly known as) Twitter?
Because, until about an hour ago, I genuinely hadn’t heard of at least 80% of the platforms on this list. And I say that as someone who lives online ( not in a “mom’s basement, haven’t seen sunlight in weeks” kind of way, but as a digital creative. It comes with the territory.).
So, in a moment of “work smarter, not harder,” I asked ChatGPT for a comprehensive breakdown. What followed was an avalanche of platforms, ranging from short-form video to decentralised social experiments. All neatly organised (cheers, bot).
Now, let’s be clear:
I’m not endorsing any of these. I haven’t used most of them. Use them at your own risk – or amusement. But if you’re curious (or working in branding, culture, or digital presence), this might be a handy rabbit hole to bookmark.
Since there’s no way I’m going to write about each one in depth (honestly who has the bandwidth?), this tidy list will have to do.
1. Everyday global heavyweights
You know them. You’re probably on them.
2. Micro-blogging (classic & alt)
The Twitter-adjacent, decentralised, or slightly more civilised side of things.
Bluesky · Mastodon · Spoutible · Minds · Post · Pebble (rebooted in 2024) · Micro.blog · Pleroma · GNU Social
For when you still want to shout into the digital void. Same stray thoughts, fewer billionaires watching.
3. Messaging-first hubs
Chat comes first. Everything else is optional.
WeChat · LINE · KakaoTalk · Viber · Signal · Threema · QQ · Zalo · Rakuten Viber · IMO
Some are encrypted. Some are corporate giants. All are huge in different corners of the world.
4. Short-form & vertical video
If it loops, lip-syncs, or is under 90 seconds, you’ll find it here.
Douyin (China) · Kwai/Kuaishou · Likee · Triller · SnackVideo · Lomotif · Apple Clips · Byte/Clash
TikTok might be king, but these are its cousins, rivals, or predecessors – many with millions of users.
5. Visual & creative communities
Show your work, get inspired, or just lurk beautifully.
Behance · Dribbble · DeviantArt · ArtStation · Pinterest · VSCO · 500px · Unsplash · Are.na · Polywork (RIP)
Designers, illustrators, cosplayers, photographers – this is where they show off (and sometimes get hired).
6. Gamers & virtual worlds
Where gaming can be the gateway drug to the metaverse (and community).
Twitch · Steam Community · Roblox · Fortnite Creative · VRChat · Horizon Worlds · Rec Room · Second Life · Discord (gaming)
Some of these are older than TikTok users. All are highly active digital spaces with loyal tribes.
7. Professional & knowledge-sharing networks
Less selfies, more resume.
LinkedIn · XING · AngelList · Lunchclub · Blind · Fishbowl · GitHub · Stack Overflow · ResearchGate · Academia.edu · Kaggle · Mendeley · RallyPoint · Doximity
From code to career talk, these are where professionals (and pseudonymous insiders) connect, vent, or quietly flex.
8. Decentralised & blockchain-powered
Social media meets Web3. Bring your wallet.
Lens Protocol · Farcaster · Friend.tech · Steemit · Hive · BitClout/DeSo · Odysee · Minds · DTube · NOSTR (e.g. Damus)
You own your data. Or at least, that’s the pitch. Some are promising, others are glorified speculation tanks.
9. Interest-specific & hobbyist platforms
Hyper‑niche, wildly passionate, sometimes weird.
Goodreads · Letterboxd · StoryGraph · Ravelry · Strava · Komoot · AllTrails · Fitocracy · Last.fm · SoundCloud · Bandcamp · MyAnimeList · Crunchyroll Community · Couchsurfing · Instructables · Houzz · PatientsLikeMe · StackShare · Untappd · RateBeer · DeviantArt (cosplay corner) · Mubi
From books to beer, anime to architecture – if it’s a niche, there’s a platform for it.
10. Audio & drop-in chat spaces
Like podcasts, but sometimes stranger, shorter, and more interactive.
Clubhouse · X Spaces · Spotify Live · Discord Stage Channels · Riff · Cappuccino · Spoon · Chalk
Some exploded during lockdown. Some quietly stayed. All let you talk, listen, or be extremely awkward live.
11. Writing-First & Creator-Publishing Platforms
For those who have more to say than a caption will allow.
Substack · Ghost · Medium · Revue (RIP-ish) · Beehiiv · Buttondown · TinyLetter · Typefully · Mirror (Web3)
Where writers, thinkers, niche nerds and cultural commentators go to share newsletters, essays, rants, and reflections.
12. Experimental & emerging (2024–2025)
The future is weird. And maybe slightly unhinged.
- Status – AI-generated fictional social timelines (yes, really)
- Swsh – Gen Z photo-sharing with AI filters
- Single Riders – Disney fan dating (IRL at the parks)
- Sitch – AI-powered social concierge (like Siri for your love life)
- Logcast – Mini audio story posts
- Pearl – Private micro-journals with reactions from friends
Some of these are delightfully bizarre. Some are already dead. Others might be the next TikTok. Who knows.
Whether you’re here to build brand presence or just figure out where all the teens went, hopefully this gave you a map (or at least a head start).
And no, I’m probably not signing up for most of these either.
Also, here is a handy table with some more info:
| Platform | Use Case | Link | Owner | CEO | HQ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social networking, groups, events | facebook.com | Meta Platforms, Inc. | Mark Zuckerberg | Menlo Park, California, USA | |
| Photo & video sharing | instagram.com | Meta Platforms, Inc. | Mark Zuckerberg | Menlo Park, California, USA | |
| Messaging & calls | whatsapp.com | Meta Platforms, Inc. | Mark Zuckerberg (via Meta) | Menlo Park, California, USA | |
| Messenger | Messaging platform | messenger.com | Meta Platforms, Inc. | Mark Zuckerberg (via Meta) | Menlo Park, California, USA |
| Threads | Text-based microblogging | threads.net | Meta Platforms, Inc. | Mark Zuckerberg (via Meta) | Menlo Park, California, USA |
| YouTube | Video hosting & streaming | youtube.com | Alphabet Inc. | Sundar Pichai | Mountain View, California, USA |
| TikTok | Short‑form video sharing | tiktok.com | ByteDance Ltd. | Liang Rubo | Beijing, China (global offices) |
| X (formerly Twitter) | Microblogging & news | twitter.com | X Corp. (Elon Musk) | Elon Musk (owner-led) | San Francisco, California, USA |
| Snapchat | Ephemeral messaging, AR filters | snapchat.com | Snap Inc. | Evan Spiegel | Santa Monica, California, USA |
| Visual discovery & planning | pinterest.com | Pinterest, Inc. | Bill Ready | San Francisco, California, USA | |
| Professional networking | linkedin.com | Microsoft Corporation | Ryan Roslansky (LinkedIn); Satya Nadella (Microsoft) | Sunnyvale & Redmond, USA | |
| Community forums & discussion | reddit.com | Reddit, Inc. | Steve Huffman | San Francisco, California, USA | |
| Discord | Voice/video/text communities | discord.com | Discord Inc. | Jason Citron | San Francisco, California, USA |
| Telegram | Encrypted messaging | telegram.org | Telegram FZ‑LLC | Pavel Durov | Dubai, UAE |
| Tumblr | Microblogging & creative posts | tumblr.com | Automattic Inc. | Matt Mullenweg | San Francisco, California, USA |
| Bluesky | Decentralised microblogging | bsky.app | Bluesky Social, PBC | Jay Graber The Verge+2TIME+2The Sun+2The Sun+10Wikipedia+10Bluesky+10 | Seattle, Washington, USA |
| Mastodon | Federated, open-source microblogging | joinmastodon.org | Mastodon gGmbH (non-profit) | Eugen Rochko | Germany (federated globally) |
| Spoutible | Alt microblogging network | spoutible.com | Spoutible Ltd. (UK-based) | Not publicly listed | UK (based) |
| Minds | Open-source social & crypto rewards | minds.com | Minds, Inc. | Bill Ottman (Co-founder/CEO) | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Post | Podcasting + social notes | post.news | Post News (Group) | Not specified | USA-based |
| Pebble | Re-launched 2024 microblogging | pebble.to | Pebble (independent relaunch) | Not widely publicised | Not specified |
| Micro.blog | Microblogging + hosting | micro.blog | Micro.blog Inc. | Manton Reece | Based in the USA |
| Pleroma | Lightweight Fediverse server | pleroma.social | Pleroma Community (open-source) | Multi-developer community | Decentralised globally |
| GNU social | Open-source federated platform | gnusocial.de | GNU Project (open-source) | Community led | Worldwide |
| Messaging, social, mobile payments | wechat.com | Tencent | Developed under Tencent leadership GitHub+15Wikipedia+15Simple Wikipedia+15 | Shenzhen, China | |
| LINE | Messaging, calls, social services | line.me | LY Corporation (SoftBank & Naver) | Operated by LY Corporation | Tokyo, Japan |
| KakaoTalk | Messaging, calls, super-app in Korea | kakaocorp.com | Kakao Corp. | KakaoTalk team, part of Kakao | Seoul, South Korea |
| Viber (Rakuten Viber) | VoIP, messaging, media sharing | viber.com | Rakuten Inc. | Founded by Talmon Marco; current CEO Ofir Eyal | London HQ, global operations |
| Signal | Encrypted messaging, voice & video calls | signal.org | Signal Foundation (non-profit) | Moxie Marlinspike, Brian Acton | USA (Signal Foundation, California-based) |
| Threema | Paid, privacy-focused encrypted messaging | threema.ch | Threema GmbH | Swiss-developed; company led by founders | Switzerland |
| IM, social portal, games—China-focused | qq.com | Tencent | Operated by Tencent | Shenzhen, China | |
| Zalo | Messaging & calls—Vietnam super-app | zalo.me | VNG Corporation | Developed by VNG | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam |
| IMO | Messaging and video calls | imo.im | PageBreeze Inc. (owner info limited) | Not publicly detailed | Likely USA-based |
| Douyin | Chinese short‑form video + e‑commerce | douyin.com | ByteDance Ltd. | Liang Rubo (Chairman & CEO) | Beijing, China Wikipedia+1Bloomberg.com+1 |
| Kwai / Kuaishou | Short‑form video (Kwai global) | kwai.com | Kuaishou Technology | Su Hua (Co‑founder & CEO) | Beijing, China |
| Likee | Short video creation & sharing | likee.video | Bigo (by Joyy Inc.) | Not publicly listed | Singapore-based (Joyy HQ) |
| Triller | Music‑video social + AI editing | triller.co | Triller Network Inc. | Mahi de Silva (CEO) | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| SnackVideo | Short videos (Asia focus) | snackvideo.com | Kuaishou Technology | Su Hua (via Kuaishou) | Beijing, China |
| Lomotif | Short music videos, collab dance | lomotif.com | Lomotif Pte Ltd | Paul Yang (Co‑founder) | Singapore |
| Clips | Apple’s video‑editing & sharing app | apple.com/clips | Apple Inc. | Tim Cook | Cupertino, California, USA |
| Byte / Clash | Micro video social (byte relaunched) | byte.co / clashapp.com | Byte Technologies | Dom Hoffman (Co‑founder) | San Francisco, California, USA |
| Behance | Showcase creative portfolios, find inspiration | behance.net | Adobe Inc. | Originally founded by Scott Belsky & Matias Corea; Belsky later became Adobe VP VentureBeatTechCrunch+11Wikipedia+11Wikipedia+11 | New York, NY, USA |
| Dribbble | Designers share UI/UIX shots & feedback | dribbble.com | Dribbble Holdings | Co‑founded by Dan Cederholm & Rich Thornett | Chattanooga, TN, USA |
| DeviantArt | Large community for artists & fanwork sharing | deviantart.com | Wix.com Ltd. | Taras Kiktenko (CEO) | New York, NY, USA |
| ArtStation | Showcase for game, film & concept artists | artstation.com | Corel Corporation | Michael Daines (CEO) | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
| Visual discovery & idea planning | pinterest.com | Pinterest, Inc. | Bill Ready | San Francisco, CA, USA | |
| VSCO | Photo editing & creator community | vsco.co | VSCO LLC | Joel Flory | Oakland, California, USA |
| 500px | Photographer marketplace & community | 500px.com | Visual China Group | Evan Zhou (CEO) | Toronto, Canada |
| Unsplash | Free high-res photo platform for creators | unsplash.com | Getty Images | Craig Peters (CEO) | Montreal, Canada |
| Are.na | Project-based visual bookmarking & sharing | are.na | Are.na, Inc. | Charles Broskoski & Chris Barley (Co‑founders) | Brooklyn, NY, USA |
| Polywork | Professional portfolio + side‑project showcase | polywork.com (now shut down) | Privately held* | Peter Johnson (Founder/CEO) (platform closed Jan 31, 2025) | New York, NY, USA (former) |
| Twitch | Live streaming (games, creative, “Just Chatting”) | twitch.tv | Twitch Interactive Inc. (subsidiary of Amazon) | Dan Clancy, CEO (since Mar 2023) secondlife.com+4Ryan Schultz+4Hacker News+4The Wall Street Journal+1Built In San Francisco+1TIME+8Wikipedia+8Bloomberg.com+8 | San Francisco, CA, USA |
| Steam Community | Social features built around Steam (forums, groups) | store.steampowered.com/community | Valve Corporation | Gabe Newell (Co‑founder & President) | Bellevue, WA, USA |
| Roblox | User-generated game/social platform (“metaverse”) | roblox.com | Roblox Corporation | David Baszucki (Co‑founder & CEO) | San Mateo, CA, USA |
| Fortnite Creative | Sandbox/social mode within Fortnite | epicgames.com/fortnite | Epic Games | Tim Sweeney (Founder & CEO) | Cary, NC, USA |
| VRChat | Virtual-reality social world | vrchat.com | VRChat, Inc. | Graham Gaylor & Jesse Joudrey (Co‑founders) | USA-based |
| Horizon Worlds | VR social creation & exploration | horizonworlds.com | Meta Platforms, Inc. | Meta Reality Labs team | USA (Meta) |
| Rec Room | Cross‑platform social VR + creation | recroom.com | Rec Room Inc. (formerly Against Gravity) | Nicholas Fajt (Co‑founder & CEO) | Seattle, WA, USA |
| Second Life | Long-standing 3D virtual world & social economy | secondlife.com | Linden Research, Inc. | CEO: Ebbe Altberg (retired 2021?), now successor TBD | San Francisco, CA, USA |
| Discord (gaming) | Voice/video/text communities for gamers | discord.com | Discord Inc. | Jason Citron, CEO | San Francisco, CA, USA |
| Professional networking, job market, European focus | xing.com | New Work SE | Christian Schmalzl | Hamburg, Germany | |
| AngelList | Startup recruiting, job listings, investing | angel.co | AngelList, Inc. | Babak Nivi & Naval Ravikant (Co-founders) | San Francisco, California, USA |
| Lunchclub | AI-based professional 1:1 networking | lunchclub.com | Elliot Technologies, Inc. | Vladimir Novakovski (Co‑founder & CEO) Wikipedia+11Tracxn+11TechCrunch+11YourStory.comWikipedia+1Digital Data Design Institute at Harvard+1Tracxn+7Wikipedia+7THE ORG+7 | Remote-first (US) |
| Blind | Anonymous workplace community for verified professionals | teamblind.com | Teamblind, Inc. | Sunguk Moon & Kyum Kim (Co‑founders) | San Francisco, California, USA |
| Fishbowl | Anonymous professional discussions within industries | fishbowlapp.com | Fishbowl Inc. | Luna Wang (Co‑founder & CEO) | New York / San Francisco, USA |
| GitHub | Code hosting, collaboration, developer network | github.com | Microsoft Corporation | Thomas Dohmke (CEO) | San Francisco, California, USA |
| Stack Overflow / Exchange | Developer Q&A and topic-specific forums | stackoverflow.com | Stack Exchange, Inc. (Prosus-owned) | Prashanth Chandrasekar (CEO, Overflow) | New York / Global |
| ResearchGate | Academic networking, paper sharing | researchgate.net | ResearchGate GmbH | Ijad Madisch (Co‑founder & CEO) | Berlin, Germany |
| Academia.edu | Researcher profiles and paper sharing | academia.edu | Academia.edu, Inc. | Richard Price (Co‑founder & CEO) | San Francisco, California, USA |
| Kaggle | Data science competitions, datasets, notebooks | kaggle.com | Google LLC | Anthony Goldbloom (Co‑founder & CEO) | Mountain View, California, USA |
| Mendeley | Reference management, academic social network | mendeley.com | Elsevier | Andries van Dam (General Manager) | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| RallyPoint | Military professional networking | rallypoint.com | RallyPoint, Inc. | TJ Smith (Co‑founder & CEO) | Arlington, Virginia, USA |
| Doximity | Networking for medical professionals | doximity.com | Doximity, Inc. | David Nierdorff (President & CEO) | San Mateo, California, USA |
| Goodreads | Book reviews, recommendations, reading logs | goodreads.com | Amazon | Founded by Otis & Elizabeth Chandler; under Amazon’s leadership since 2013 Wikipedia+11Wikipedia+11WIRED+11 | Seattle, Washington (Amazon base) |
| StoryGraph | Personalized book tracking & stats | thestorygraph.com? | Independently owned | Nadia Odunayo – Founder | London (UK) |
| Strava | Fitness tracking with social features | strava.com | Strava, Inc. | Michael Martin – CEO (since Jan 2024) | San Francisco, California, USA |
| Last.fm | Music tracking and recommendations | last.fm | CBS Interactive | Not publicly listed | London, UK |
| SoundCloud | Audio streaming & creator uploads | soundcloud.com | SoundCloud Ltd. | Not publicly listed | Berlin, Germany |
| Bandcamp | Music discovery & direct artist payouts | bandcamp.com | Bandcamp, Inc. (Indie) | Ethan Diamond – Founder / CEO | Oakland, California, USA |
| MyAnimeList | Anime/manga tracking and community | myanimelist.net | Kadokawa Corporation | Not publicly listed | Tokyo, Japan |
| Crunchyroll Community | Fan community for anime streaming | community.crunchyroll.com | Sony (Crunchyroll) | Not publicly listed | San Francisco, USA & Tokyo, Japan |
| Couchsurfing | Global travel stay exchanges & networking | couchsurfing.com | Couchsurfing Intl. | Casey Fenton – Founder & CEO | San Francisco, California, USA |
| Instructables | DIY project sharing & tutorials | instructables.com | Autodesk | Not publicly listed | San Rafael, California, USA |
| Houzz | Home design inspiration & professional links | houzz.com | Houzz Inc. | Adi Tatarko & Alon Cohen – Co‑founders | Palo Alto, California, USA |
| PatientsLikeMe | Chronic illness community & data-sharing | patientslikeme.com | Invitae Corporation | Founded by Martin Coulter; now under Invitae | Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA |
| StackShare | Developer tools & tech stack comparisons | stackshare.io | StackShare Inc. | Founders – unknown publically | USA-based |
| Untappd | Social beer rating & discovery | untappd.com | Next Glass Inc. | Greg Avola – Founder & CEO | New York, USA |
| RateBeer | Beer reviews & ratings | ratebeer.com | Shareholder & user community | Chris Rice – Founder (2000) | San Francisco, USA ? |
| DeviantArt (cosplays) | Visual art, including cosplays | deviantart.com | Wix.com | Taras Kiktenko – CEO | New York, New York, USA |
| Mubi | Curated film streaming & critic community | mubi.com | MUBI Inc. | Efe Cakarel – Founder | London, UK & global |
| Clubhouse | Drop-in voice chat / live audio rooms | clubhouse.com | Alpha Exploration Co. | Paul Davison & Rohan Seth – Founders prnewswire.com+1axios.com+1wired.com+1newyorker.com+1en.wikipedia.org | USA (iOS / Android app) |
| Twitter/X Spaces | Live audio conversations within X app | (integrated in X) | X Corp. (Elon Musk) | Elon Musk – Owner-led | San Francisco, California, USA |
| Spotify Live | Live audio sessions by creators | (via Spotify app) | Spotify Technology S.A. | Daniel Ek – CEO | Stockholm, Sweden & NYC, USA |
| Discord Stage Channels | Scheduled audio events in Discord servers | (via discord.com) | Discord Inc. | Jason Citron – CEO | San Francisco, California, USA |
| Riff | Short audio conversations | riff.audio (?), riff.com? | Facebook/Meta (originally) | Experimental team at Meta | USA (Meta R&D) |
| Cappuccino | Morning group voice “coffee chat” | cappuccino.app | Cappuccino, Inc. | Not widely publicised | USA-based |
| Spoon | Live audio broadcasting & chat | spooncast.net or spoon.app | Spoon Radio Inc. | Not publicly listed | Seoul, South Korea & Global |
| Chalk | Group drop-in audio rooms | chalk.audio? | Chalk Labs(?) | Not publicly listed | USA/EU (early‑stage startup) |
| Substack | Newsletter platform with built-in social & monetisation | substack.com | Substack Inc. | Chris Best | San Francisco, California, USA |
| Ghost | Open-source publishing for creators, memberships, and newsletters | ghost.org | Ghost Foundation | John O'Nolan | Singapore / Global |
| Medium | Blogging & story publishing platform with member-driven model | medium.com | Medium Corporation | Tony Stubblebine | San Francisco, California, USA |
| Beehiiv | Newsletter and content platform built for growth | beehiiv.com | Beehiiv Inc. | Tyler Denk | New York, USA |
| Buttondown | Minimalist, privacy-friendly newsletter tool | buttondown.email | Buttondown Inc. | Justin Duke | Seattle, Washington, USA |
| TinyLetter | Simple, free email newsletter service (legacy product) | tinyletter.com | Mailchimp (Intuit) | Rania Succar (Mailchimp CEO) | Atlanta, Georgia, USA |
| Typefully | Writing and publishing tool for X/Twitter and newsletters | typefully.com | Better Programming Inc. | Francesco Agosti | Remote / Global |
| Mirror | Web3-native publishing with crypto integration | mirror.xyz | Mirror.xyz | Denis Nazarov | USA-based / Decentralised |